Elevator safety-catch.



A. L. BUSH.

ELEVATOR SAFETY CATCH.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.19, 1910.

1,031,380., Patented July 9, 1912.

AUGUSTUS L. BUSH, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELEVATOR SAFETY-CATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1912.

Application filed December 19, 1910. Serial No. 598,065.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUeUsTUs L. BUsH, a citizen of the United States,residing at lVorcester, in the county of IVorcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Elevator Safety-Catch, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an elevator safety device, and is animprovement on the invention setforth and described in my Patent No.975,828, granted Nov. 15, 1910.

In my above identified patent the construction is such that a singlerack is employed both for tripping the safety device and for catchingthe latch thereof to hold the elevator. Obviously therefore the teeth ofthe rack constitute positive stops, and the elevator is arrested withsome suddenness and can only be stopped when the latch comes intoengagement with one of the teeth so that the maximum distance throughwhich the elevator can drop in practice is the length of two teeth.

The present invention is designed for the purpose of providing meanswhereby the latch that stops the elevator will not have to come intooperation at any definite point along the elevator well, and to providea construction in which the points at which the car can be made to stopare not perfectly definite. In this way the car can be stopped atcomparatively shorter intervals and the rack which the latch engages canbe made with longer teeth. Also as these teeth never have to support thecar the rack can be made of very thin and light stock.

The invention also involves an improved device cooperating with the backof the rack and its support for guiding the car therealong and otherdetails of construction hereinafter described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a front elevation of a portion of an elevator well and car showing apreferred embodiment of this invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view onthe line 22 thereof, and Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View on theline 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the stopping attachment in plan.

Like my prior invention this safety device works entirely independentlyof the cable which is not shown, also it is adapted to be used in pairs,one on each side of the car, but as each one works independently, onlyone is shown. This is shown as mounted on a car 10 which works in a wellprovided along the side of the same with a vertical rack 11 having theusual teeth thereon projecting toward either the front or rear of thewell instead of toward the car as in the other case. The form of theattachment shown comprises a forging or casting 12 secured on the carnear the side, and constituting a bracket.

'This bracket is provided with a passage 13 therethr'ough open at theside. There is no necessity in this case of providing the car with anypassage 'as the bracket is provided with ears 14 spaced from each otheradapted to be secured to the opposite side of an upright, standard orthe like on the car. From the rear ear projects a wall 15 which engagesthe rear of the fixed upright support 16 on which the rack 11 ismounted.

On the front of the bracket it is provided with another projection 17.These two projections 15 and 17 move along the opposite sides of thesupport 16 and assist in guiding the car with respect to the elevatorwell. This front projection 17 is provided with a pivot-pin 18 locatedin perforated, forwardly extending ears 19 and 20 thereon. On this ispivoted the hub 21 of the safety catch. This safety catch has an arm 22extending upwardly from the hub or body 21 and serving the same purposeas the arm 16 of my prior patent. That is, it engages the rack 11 andserves to trip the catch whenever the elevator drops. Extending downfrom the arm is a member 23 acting as a weight to hold the hub in suchposition on its pivot that the arm 22 will remain in contact with therack. It is also provided with a tooth 24 located opposite the frontwooden surface of the support 16 and adapted to bite into the same andhold the car when the car starts to drop.

The parts are so arranged, it will be understood, that if the car dropsthe first or at least the second tooth that the arm 22 strikes will giveit a blow which will swing the whole latch on its pivot far enough tothrow the tooth 24 into the dotted line position in Fig. 2 where it willbite into the wood of the support 16 and prevent further descent of thecar. In this way it will be seen that the catch can work anywhereindependently of the location of the teeth of the rack and that thetooth 24 does not come into contact with a positive metallic projectionto perform the stopping operation. In the ordinary operation of the carit will be understood that the arm 22 simply vibrates back and forthover the teeth without being thrown out far enough to cause the tooth24: to engage the member 16. 7

Because the guide arm 15 engages the support 16 on the side oppositethat on which the latch works, the effect of the operation of the latchis simply to force the surfaces of the parts 15 and 16 into frictionalengagement. While I have illustrated anddescribed a preferred embodiment-of the invention, I am aware that many modifications can be madetherein by any aerson skilled in the art without departing fromthe scopeof the invention as expressed in the claim. Therefore I do not wish tobe limited to all the details of construction herein shown anddescribed, but

What I do claim is:

In a safety device for elevators, the combination with a. verticalsupport and a rack along the side thereof, of a bracket adapted to bemounted on an elevator car and having a latch pivoted on said bracketand having an upwardly extending arm, and a counterbalancing arm inanother parallel plane in position to hold the end of the upwardlyextending arm against the rack teeth, said counterbalancing arm having aprojection in position to swing against said vertical support when theupwardly extending arm moves away from the plane of the rack teeth, saidbracket having a vertical integral guide arm engaging the side of thesupport opposite that on which said latch operates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

AUGUSTUS L. BUSH. Witnesses:

LoUIs W. SOUTHGATE, E. M. ALLEN.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

